Rakesh Roshan recently faced flak from the internet for his comments about why South Indian cinema is succeeding over the Hindi cinema. It’s no news that in the year gone by, South cinema nearly outperformed Bollywood at the box office. This further reignited the long-ongoing South vs. Bollywood debate. The filmmaker hopped on to the debate sharing his views on why South Indian films are performing better suggesting that the cinema has technically progressed because it still focuses on old-school storytelling and that they ‘play it safe’.
His comments did not sit well with the audience on Reddit, who called him out for his ignorance and lack of knowledge citing examples.
While discussing his understanding of South cinema’s progress, Rakesh Roshan said, “South films are very grounded. They’re continuing with the old-school format of song-action-dialogue emotions. They’re not progressing. Technically, they are, but storytelling-wise, they’re sticking to the same formulas that work. They’re successful because they’re not breaking any path.”
He Kaho Naa Pyaar Hair director further said that while Bollywood often takes risks, South cinema plays it safe. He added, “We are breaking paths. After I made Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai, I didn’t want to make romantic films again. Then I did Koi… Mil Gaya. After that, I made Rohit (Hrithik Roshan’s character in Koi… Mil Gaya) a superhero. These are the challenges we took. They don’t take risks. They play on safe grounds.”
Rakesh Roshan’s remarks have attracted a lot of flak on Reddit. One user remarked, “Bollywood’s own arrogance is its downfall.” while another user pointed out, “Regional cinema in general is far more inventive than commercial Bollywood. Roshan likely doesn’t follow anything beyond popular cinema. Only then can you develop such a perspective.”
Citing a few examples, one Reddit user added, “What about Eega? Can a Bollywood movie with a fly as the hero break any records? Bollywood is also currently surviving on the same male testosterone-driven action films like Jawan, Gadar 2, Pathaan, and Animal. One Stree 2 doesn’t change that. Dangal and Bajrangi Bhaijaan are almost a decade old now.”
Several others slammed the filmmaker calling him an “Absolute clown.” Other comments read, “This reeks of arrogance”, “What nonsense did I just read. Thank god the audience is aware” and “Please get your facts right.”
Rakesh Roshan has been one of the most successful producer-directors in the industry having given some of the greatest hits including, Karan Arjun, Koyal, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Khoobsurat, the Krrish franchise and more.
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